Fireworked up: Massachusetts takes offense

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and other public officials in the Bay State are offended that a New Hampshire fireworks store is mailing advertisements to customers in Massachusetts after the Boston Marathon bombings. So much for being "Boston strong."

The store is Phantom Fireworks in Seabrook, where Tammerlan Tsarnaev bought fireworks before the bombings. The store has a customer base in Massachusetts, and it annually advertises there through direct mail before the July 4 weekend. Coakley, Boston Mayor Tom Menino and others complained to the Boston Herald about the mailers this week. Coakley called them "insensitive."

You know what's really insensitive? Declaring your entire population too irresponsible to handle even the smallest of fireworks. Massachusetts bans all fireworks. "They're not legal here in Massachusetts for a reason: because they're very dangerous," Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald told the Herald. "They're better left to the professionals."

Now that's offensive. On top of protecting Bostonians from fire crackers, now public officials want to protect them from advertisements for fire crackers. It's a sad comment on Massachusetts that New Hampshire business owners trust the people of the Bay State more than the people's own elected officials do.

It's winter vacation season for some of us. It's time to grab the skis or snowboard and hit the slopes, or do some cross country skiing, snowshoe trekking, or tubing. We found some events to get you...